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However, Germany’s proportional representation system does make direct comparison notoriously difficult.

But, after her former grand coalition partners the Social Democrats said they wanted to go into opposition this time around, Mrs Merkel will have to start horse trading with the other parties – much like Mrs May had to do with the Ulster Unionists.

If, as expected, Mrs Merkel forms a coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats and Greens, she will need to satisfy a broader base and make a number of concessions.

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Angela Merkel needs to form a coalition

That could leave her regime even more unstable than Mrs May’s, who relies on the DUP to prop up the Tories in Parliament after losing their majority at the last election.

Mrs Merkel said after Sunday’s result that she was hopeful of building a coalition, but warned it could take until Christmas to do so.

But industry leaders urged Mrs Merkel to move fast to build a government.

Dieter Kempf, president of the BDI industry association, said: ”Our companies need clear signals. Now it's all about averting damage to Germany as a place of business.”

Any alliance of the three parties could be fragile due to deep differences on issues from migrants to tax, the environment and Europe.

In particular, the prospect of Mrs Merkel sharing power with the FDP is likely to create problems for deeper integration of the euro zone as proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Angela Merkel in pictures

Tue, August 8, 2017

Angela Merkel has served as German Chancellor since 2005 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000. We take a look at her political career in pictures.